Inept Vikings live down to paltry expectations

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Josh Freeman (12) throws a pass as he is hit by New York Giants' Antrel Rolle (26) during the second half of an NFL football game Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Meet the new quarterback, same as the old quarterback.

The Vikings on Monday night rolled out their third signal caller to start a game this season in six weeks. But Josh Freeman didn’t look any better than Christian Ponder or Matt Cassel, the two who came before him.

Freeman completed a meager 20 of 53 passes for 190 yards in a 23-7 loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Minnesota dropped to 1-5, making the chances of a second straight playoff appearance even more remote. The Giants (1-6) got their first win of the season.

Advertisement

“It’s frustrating,” Freeman said. “It’s disappointing. But at the same time I see a lot of areas that are manageable in terms of improvement. We can definitely get better as time moves on.”

ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico, while trying to look for positives before this dreadful Monday Night Football matchup, had told the Pioneer Press that at least “you have a bunch of fantasy owners who need this game.”

Good luck to any fantasy owner who had Freeman.

After being waived Oct. 3 by Tampa Bay, the quarterback joined the Vikings for his first practice Oct. 9. That didn’t give him much time to prepare for Monday’s initial start.

It showed.

“His performance was up and down,” said Vikings coach Leslie Frazier, whose team rushed for just 30 yards. “He had a lot of people at the line of scrimmage and it made it hard. We need to get our running game going to take the pressure off the quarterback. His numbers aren’t the greatest for sure.”

Freeman’s timing was off. He offered up one of Minnesota’s three turnovers on the night.

With the Vikings trailing 10-7 and facing second and two at the Giants’ 23 on their first drive of the second half, Freeman threw the ball up for grabs. It was intercepted by New York’s Antrel Rolle.

“We had some chances and we just couldn’t make things happen,” Frazier said. “We had opportunities.”

Freeman’s interception wasn’t as costly as a later Minnesota turnover. Cornerback Marcus Sherels fumbled a punt at his own 13 that was recovered by Zak DeOssie at the Vikings’ 3. Two plays later, Peyton Hillis scored on a 1-yard run for a 17-7 lead.

The way Minnesota’s offense was looking, that was insurmountable.

The Vikings didn’t score on offense. Their points came on an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown by Sherels — the third-longest in team history — that gave Minnesota a 7-3 lead.

But Sherels’ night turned sour. Not only did he fumble in the third quarter, he dropped a possible interception on the previous play. Had Sherels caught the ball just inside Giants territory, it looked as if he would have had a sure touchdown.

Overall, Minnesota’s defense showed improvement, although going against the Giants’ uninspiring offense sure helped. New York quarterback Eli Manning completed 23 of 39 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown but the Giants rushed for just 64 yards.

In their first five games, the Vikings gave up an average of 31.6 points, which was on pace to be the worst showing in the team’s 53-year history.

For now, the Vikings’ offense has become a bigger concern. Running back Adrian Peterson gained just 28 yards on 13 carries. He admitted a hamstring problem that forced him to miss practice last Friday was a factor.

“The one thing I’m going to stress is just being more physical as an offensive unit,” Peterson said. “We were more physical last year. And that’s one thing that stands out.”

Then there’s the quarterback situation. Ponder struggled in the first three games before suffering a rib injury that since has healed.

Cassel looked good in the team’s only win of the season, 31-27 over Pittsburgh on Sept. 29. But he looked bad in a 35-10 home loss to Carolina on Oct. 13, and was replaced by Freeman.

It’s tough to fully evaluate Freeman considering he just joined the team and has been trying to learn the playbook on the fly. But he offered little room for optimism Monday.

Freeman overthrew and underthrew receivers. He made few good decisions. With the Vikings trailing 17-7 midway through the third quarter, they faced third and three at the Giants’ 21. But Freeman was sacked for a loss of 14, taking the Vikings out of field-goal range.

The Giants got three field goals from Josh Brown. And Manning connected with Rueben Randle on a 24-yard TD pass early in the second quarter to give New York the lead for good at 10-7.

Manning spent much of the game playing conservatively while looking to avoid mistakes. He seemed content to let the quarterback on the other side stink it up.